Gholaia (Bu Njem)

There are many reasons to visit the ruins of ancient
Gholaia or, as
it is called today, Bu Njem (satellite).
Admittedly, the remains don't look impressive when you approach them,
but
they belong to the most impressive monument of Libya: the Roman
frontier
zone, or limes.
The emperor Septimius
Severus (193-211) ordered the construction of a line of
fortifications,
which completely changed this part of Libya, Tripolitana.

Today, this is desert, but the area is not as arid as
it seems. In
fact, there is sufficient rainfall, but it is highly unpredictable and
irregular. However, when the wadis have dams and dikes, the water can
be
regulated, and the area can be developed for agricultural purposes.
This
is what happened in the early third century. The first stage was to
build
forts like Gholaia. This map shows that it was a stereotypical castellum
with barracks, a bathhouse, headquarters and a residence for the
commander.

East gate

Other forts were at Ghadames and Gheriat
al-Garbia. They were built by soldiers of the Third
legion Augusta. This can be deduced from the towers near the
main gate,
which are not square, as is usual, but five-angled. This can only be
found
in settlements of the Third, which was based in Lambaesis in what is
now
Algeria. Gates like this can also be seen in Theveste.

The new forts controlled the main roads through the
desert, and were
situated near oases. On this photo of Gholaia's eastern gate, you can
see
the Bu Njem oasis in the background. It is about 100 km from the coast.
By blocking access to the wells, the forts protected the country that
was
to be developed against large groups of nomads (e.g., the Garamantes,
who lived beyond the Gebel
as-Soda).
Against small bands, however, guarding the wells offered insufficient
protection,
so the farms that were to be built, had to have strong walls to keep
invaders
out for some time. Examples can be found at Gheriat
esh-Shergia, Ghirza,
and Qasr
Banat. There were also watchtowers that signaled
the arrival
of intruders. The Limes
Tripolitanus was a fine system, and many people
settled in Tripolitana as farmers, producing sufficient to make sure
that towns like Sabratha, Oea
(modern Tripoli), and Lepcis
Magna prospered. Many settlers must have been
veterans from
the three forts.

The Cardo (main road)

Their culture, based on expert water management and
vigilance, survived the Roman Empire. Of course, there were changes. In
the late
fifth, early sixth century, there were serious troubles, but the
emperor Justinian
reinforced the cities along the coast, built new towns (e.g., Theodorias)
and the fortified farms were strengthened. An example is Suq
al-Awty, which contains a small Byzantine church.

In the seventh century, the population converted to
Islam and the Tripolitanan
limes culture survived well into the eleventh century, when war between
the Fatimid and Zirid dynasties resulted in invasions by the Banu
Hillal
nomads, who sacked countless settlements. Because many farms were
abandoned,
agricultural production fell, and the towns along the coast went into
decline.

The Principia

As a result, there were less people who could loot the
abandoned forts
and farms. (Oea is the exception.) The stones were never reused and
were
covered by desert sands. The settlements were forgotten until Italian
archaeologists
started to investigate them in the1920's and 30's.

The foundations of the Principia
have survived reasonably well. Several columns surrounding the square
court have been reerected by the
French and Libyan archaeologists who studied the site in the 1970's.
The
quad may have been used as a market place, because no other site can
been
identified. There must have been a small prison too; its existence is
implied
in Ostracon #71.
(The ostraca
from Bu Njem are sherds on which reports
and letters were
written. Some of them were discovered in the room you can see in front.
A little to the rear is the only scriptorium that has been identified
in
a Roman fort.)

Statue of a war goddess from the sacellum (Museum of Lepcis Magna)

The Principia
(HQs) must have looked like the principia elsewhere; these buildings
were the same all over the empire. Gholaia
also had a square court surrounded by small rooms, a large transverse
hall
(basilica), and a shrine (sacellum) were the
unit's standard
was kept and venerated. If the graffito shown below
is reliable, the sacellum was pretty high. The
unit's library must
have
been in one of the adjoining rooms.

The soldiers who served at Gholaia were recruited from all
over Africa, like most legionaries of III Augusta. However, in 219, the
emperor Heliogabalus
disbanded the Third
legion Gallica, and many soldiers of this unit were added to
the African
legion. This means that several soldiers in Gholaia were from Syria.

View
from the desert west of Bu Njem (the Italian fort)

Principia

The basilica in
the Principia, seen from the place where the ostraca were found